Rashguards and Shoe Buckles
by TheGhostofMoriarty
Summary: Somewhere, in the Battle Tram... A story begins. This takes place sometime after Pilgrim Boy saves the lives of The Aquabats from the dreaded Potato Bug. Eaglebones and Pilgrim Boy have become great friends, but Eaglebones gets a little mopey when things may not be going the way he plans.


**I do not own The Aquabats. Not the characters, the show, or the band. They all belong to themselves, and whoever technically owns the copyrights.  
**

**I do, however, ship Eaglebones and Pilgrim Boy. A lot.**

* * *

"This is the D chord!" Eaglebones said chipperly to Pilgrim Boy as he strummed at his guitar, "And, this is the C chord!"

Pilgrim Boy smiled at his friend, then said in an old English accent "But, Eaglebones, you spoke to me about all of this when we first met."

Eaglebones stopped strumming and looked up at his colonially dressed friend, "well, yeah. I know. But, I thought that if you learned how to play, I could play _with _you, and not just _to_ you."

"I have been told that my voice is to the ear as high gradeth honey is to the mouth. Could you not play your instrument whilst I sing a song that would bringeth joy and happiness to all the lands?"

Eaglebones listened to his friend's argument, and what it would mean to play while Pilgrim Boy sang. "No, that wouldn't work."

"Well, why not?" Pilgrim Boy was a bit frustrated, you see, he had wanted to sing for Eaglebones for quite some time now.

"Because," Eaglebones began, trying to come up with the proper way to explain this, "The Commander sings while I play."

"So, I am not as good as the Commander?" The pilgrim began to pout; this was quite the disappointing turn of events. Maybe Eaglebones did not like him as much as he had hoped?

"That's not it, Pilgrim Boy." Eaglebones realized the mess he had just made, "It is just… The Commander sings while I play, so I am used to that. It would be just plain…. _Weird _for you to sing while I play my guitar."

"What maketh it weird?

"Nothing…. It is just…. It is… different with the Commander… I like him… _differently_…."

"In what way is _that_?!" Pilgrim Boy exclaimed, afraid that all of his hopes were about to be shattered into dust.

Before Eaglebones could think of any sort of response, preferably one that would put him in Pilgrim Boy's better graces, Crash McLarson came running into the room.

"Eaglebones! We need your help! There's a giant man-eating tadpole monster wreaking havoc on the city!" Crash made a double take when he saw Pilgrim Boy sitting across from Eaglebones, "Hey, when did Pilgrim Boy get here?"

Pilgrim Boy had been there for quite some time, but none of the other Aquabats knew about his visit. Was this because Eaglebones had not wanted to tell his friends and band mates about his guest? Eaglebones quickly came up with a response for his larger friend, "Um… He just got here." He smiled at his quickly thought out save.

"I was just leaving…eth." Pilgrim Boy said quietly as he stood up. He then proceeded to contort himself every which way, his face and the noises coming from his mouth were just screaming of the agony that he was putting himself into. The very next moment, a large bird wearing a pilgrim hat replaced Pilgrim Boy, and the bird flew out of the window and left the two Aquabats behind.

"Well, that was rude of him! He didn't even say hi!" Crash was disappointed in the short visit. So, was Eaglebones, but for different reasons entirely.

* * *

The giant man eating tadpole monster had been attacking the small town for quite some time now, but luckily the Aquabats were finally here to save the day. The Commander kicked at him, while Crash got emotional and became large. Crash, now the size of the giant man-eating tadpole monster began to punch at it. Jimmy was shooting lasers out of his hand, while Ricky Fitness ran in circles around the giant man-eating tadpole monster, confusing it.

Eaglebones looked out at the scene and felt uneasy, he had seen a similar situation before, and quite frankly, he was kind of saddened that Jimmy was fighting the giant man-eating tadpole monster. "Wait!" Eaglebones called to his band mates. "We've been through this before, don't you remember? Jimmy, I know you do."

"What do you mean?" Jimmy called back, as he stopped firing.

"This tadpole monster, it's just a baby. You're a momma. You should have baby-love feels. Don't you feel bad for being all, 'oooh! A baby, let's kill it!'?" Seriously, we had an entire episode dedicated to this, and we even learned a valuable lesson in it all."

"No,_ I _learned a valuable lesson. I learned to let things go!" Jimmy called back as he shot a laser at the tadpole, blowing the whole thing up into millions debris and splattering baby frog guts all over the band.

* * *

Afterward, the band began to notice that Eaglebones was not quite himself. He would sit on the sofa and tune and re-tune his guitar all day, and would never speak to anyone. He no longer seemed enthused about the band's gigs, or adventures. He seemed quite depressed. Jimmy was afraid that he may have caused Eaglebones' depression by killing the baby frog. Even if it was a giant man-eating tadpole monster.

The Aquabats were very worried about their friend and band mate. Each of the band members did their own thing to help brightened Eaglebones' spirits. The MC Bat Commander asked Eaglebones to make some tasty sugary treats for him. That only made Eaglebones kind of grumpy, and he refused to make the Commander anything to eat. Afterward, the Commander did admit that his plan was more focused on improving his own spirits than it was Eaglebones'. Crash McLarson decided that the best way to improve Eaglebones' mood was through therapeutic painting. However, Eaglebones is only a musician and not a painter. He has no interest in watching old Bob Ross reruns with Crash. He wasn't ever going to be in the mood to "paint some happy little clouds" or make some "happy accidents." Unfortunately, he found out the hard way that telling Crash this was in itself a "sad accident" as it greatly disappointed Crash and his emotional state caused him to grow to the size of a building within moments. The band had quite a bit of difficulty getting him back to normal size, but Commander and Jimmy were able to calm him down eventually. Now, the whole band was a bit unhappy with Eaglebones because of the way he made Crash feel. This made Eaglebones even more depressed.

The band still wanted to make Eaglebones happy again, and continued to come up with new ideas. Ricky Fitness thought long and hard as to what could possibly be the matter with Eaglebones, and how he could help him be happy again. Naturally, he realized that the cause of his depression was his unhealthy lifestyle. Ricky, being the wonderful friend that he is, decided to take it upon himself to help Eaglebones get out of this rut of sadness and unfitness. First, he discarded all of the junk food from the Battle Tram. They were only temptations that would lure Eaglebones back into the unfulfilling lifestyle that Ricky was trying so hard to rescue him from. Secondly, Ricky decided that Eaglebones should be put on a strict exercise routine. He proceeded to wake his friend up at precisely three AM the next morning and had him run three miles through the forest. Afterward, Eaglebones was expected to complete sixty pushups, a feat that he could not accomplish because his frail eagle-bones were just too weak for such a task. Then, Ricky brought him back to the Battle Tram and made him one of his very own "Fitness Slushi_."_ It consisted of the usual: fruits, vegetables, and fish, but it also had a bit more added to it to really make it worthy of Ricky's last name. It had onions, eggs, and various other protein-rich ingredients that really add flavor and protein awesomeness. Although, he did make a point to not tell Eaglebones everything that was in it, only that it is "really good." Eaglebones disagreed with him about the flavor and told him that he was perfectly happy living an unhealthy lifestyle and that ice cream, burgers and donuts are the greatest foods known to mankind.

Despite all the effort his friends put into making Eaglebones happy, he remained sad. Jimmy the Robot spent the last several days thinking of ways to make it up to Eaglebones. We was truly sorry that he had killed that baby frog, and that Eaglebones was in such a sorry state because of him. He contemplated Eaglebones' emotions, and felt that it was down to him to help him out. But, what could he possibly do to help make him happy again? He is the reason that he's sad in the first place, so what could he do to make things right again? These questions haunted Jimmy, as he struggled to find an answer. He was afraid that his friend would be sad forever, and he hated the idea of that. He also could not bear the thought that he would be the cause of his friend's perpetual sorrow. The robot decided to turn to the one thing he knew could never fail to find the answers: science.

Jimmy entered the room that Eaglebones was sitting, "Eaglebones?" He spoke after a while of standing there awkwardly, "May I talk to you…?"

"Hmm…?" Eaglebones did not look up from his guitar, which he was tuning for the sixth time that day.

"I have an idea." Jimmy grabbed his friend's hand, "You need to come with me."

Eaglebones had been through this routine many times in the last several days. One of his friends would pull him aside and try to make him feel better with some stupid activity or hobby, but only succeed at making him feel worse. Quite frankly, he was getting sick of it and wanted to be left in peace to mope and drown in his own despair alone. Nonetheless, he followed his robot friend to the lab.

Eaglebones looked around the lab; it was filled with flasks and test tubes, and all kinds of shiny sciencey stuff. He had no idea what half of it was called, or what any of it was used for. "What do you want?"

"I want to make it up to you."

"Um…. What?"

"I- I killed that baby, the giant man-eating tadpole creature. It was only a baby, but that did not stop me from destroying it." Jimmy admitted, "I am very sorry about that. I can make it up to you… I have not quite figured out how to… But, I am sure that I can…."

Eaglebones looked at his friend, slightly confused. To be honest, he was upset that the giant man-eating tadpole creature had to die, but, in the end, he thought that killing the beast was probably the best option. It was wreaking havoc on an entire city after all, and they were losing the battle. "It's okay…." Eaglebones was not sure what to say, Jimmy was clearly upset by this, "I am not upset about that."

"Wha…?"

"I am not upset about the giant man-eating tadpole monster." Eaglebones said a little more clearly. "Don't worry about that."

Jimmy's eyes brightened, "You mean that I have not caused you great sorrow?!" Jimmy was clearly relieved at the idea that he was not the reason for Eaglebones' depression, but he knew that something else must be the matter. What else could it be? Jimmy blowing up the giant man-eating tadpole monster was the only logical answer for his depression. "You promise it wasn't me?"

"Yes, I promise. You did not make me sad." Eaglebones began to exit the lab, so he could go back to his guitar.

"No! Oh, no you don't!" Jimmy grabbed Eaglebone's arm and pulled him into the lab. "Sit on that table!" Eaglebones rolled his eyes and headed for a table. And… Here!" Jimmy stabbed Eaglebones' arm with a needle, and took some x-rays, and did a bunch of other science-like stuff to him. "I am just going to look at that, and let these chemicals mix. And, read the results from this test, while that test still processes…." Jimmy was running all over the lab, measuring various things, and checking a bunch of different charts.

"What are you doing?" Eaglebones rubbed his arm, which was now in a considerable amount of pain.

"I am doing science! But, that is not all. I am trying to figure out what is making you sad. With science!"

"I am not sad. And it is none of your business. Or any of yours! Stop trying to make me feel better. It is not going to happen!" Eaglebones began yelling, he seriously was getting annoyed with his friends pestering him about his emotions and trying to make him feel better. He got up and walked out of the lab, he wanted to be alone.

As Eaglebones left the lab, Jimmy heard a slight 'ding!' coming from one of his machines. The robot pulled a piece of paper out from the machine and read the results. "Oh, no…."

* * *

Jimmy ran all over the Battle Tram looking for Eaglebones. He needed to get to him as soon as possible. Finally, he found him. He was playing mournful music on his guitar. Jimmy ran up to Eaglebones and gave him a hug.

"What do you want?" Eaglebones quickly pulled away from the robot.

"I'm sorry." Jimmy said. "I am so sorry. I wish I could help… I got the results back. From one of the tests I took. It told me why you are sad, and it is horrible."

Eaglebones looked at Jimmy with curiosity, "what did it say?"

"It said that you have a broken heart." Jimmy the Robot said mournfully. "That is the fourth worst ailment known to man. And you have it… I looked all over the place for a cure, but I could not find one."

Eaglebones considered what Jimmy said. Perhaps he was correct? Eaglebones never had his heart broken before, but this must be how it felt. "Can I talk to you…?"

Eaglebones proceeded to tell Jimmy the Robot everything. About the butterflies that he feels in his tummy whenever he talks to Pilgrim Boy, or talks about him, or even thinks about him. He mentioned that he and Pilgrim Boy had been hanging out a lot for the last several months, and that he had purposefully not been telling the band about his visits so that they would not intrude on his and Pilgrim Boy's time together. And that he wanted Pilgrim Boy to learn guitar so they had something in common and they could bond over it.

"But…" Eaglebones concluded, "A couple of days ago. Before Crash came in, I made him angry. And, he left without saying goodbye. He has never not said goodbye before." Eaglebones was getting a little teary-eyed as he thought about everything, "He has not been answering my letters. He hasn't dropped by since that day. I have not heard from him at all. What if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore…? What will I do…?"

Jimmy listened to his friend lament and tried to give him the best advice he could, and told him that everything would work out for the best in the end. Eaglebones did not quite believe that, but the thought made him feel a little better.

* * *

The ground shook from underneath the Battle Tram, and the band ran outside to see what the matter was.

"What is happening…?!" Crash asked afraid of learning the answer.

"There!" The Commander pointed to a giant amphibian creature.

"What is it?!" Ricky was a little grossed out by its slimy exterior.

"It's…" Jimmy began, "The mother."

Sure enough, the giant amphibian was a giant man-eating frog. By this time, she would definitely know that her child was dead, and she was out for revenge.

The Aquabats quickly got into fight mode and began to attack the giant man-eating frog. Commander used his punching and leadership abilities to better help the team as much as he could, while Ricky utilized his speed for quick attacks. Crash grew large and charged head first at the frog, and Jimmy did a bunch of cool robot tricks that were sure to have some impact. Eaglebones looked onto this scene and instantly knew that they were doomed. They barely beat the tadpole, and that was a baby. They had no chance against a fully grown angry giant man-eating frog monster. He had to think fast.

"I SUMMON THE DUUUUUUUDE!" He shouted as he extended his falconer gloved-arm. His invisible bird flew to him, "Dude! I need you to do something. Anything!" The Dude was a smart bird, and she flew away from the beast and the band to find help. In this case, help came in the form of a certain, aforementioned pilgrim. "PILGRIM BOY!" Eaglebones called to his friend.

"I have cometh to free thee from the clutches of that horrid beast." Pilgrim Boy explained to the band. He began to grimace and wince in pure agony and he magically transformed into a large bird, this time he transformed himself into an even larger bird than before. He was now larger than even the mother man-eating frog. A great battle then commenced between Pilgrim Boy and the mother frog. The mother fought hard, for she had revenge at stake, but Pilgrim Boy fought even harder, for he had the lives of The Aquabats at stake, and most of all, the life of Eaglebones Falconhawk was at stake. Nothing causes a pilgrim to fight harder than that. Nothing.

In the end, Pilgrim Boy came out victorious, and the great man-eating frog monster was defeated. However, Pilgrim Boy did not leave the battle field unharmed. As he clawed and bit at the frog, the frog hopped and jumped unto him. As Pilgrim Boy gave the finishing attack to the frog, the frog used her last ounce of breadth and energy to throw one good attack at Pilgrim Boy. As the mother man-eating frog fell to her death, Pilgrim Boy fell to his.

"NOOOOO!" Eaglebones yelled at the top of his lungs as he saw the giant bird transform back into a little man as he fell to the ground below. "Nooo! PILGRIM BOY!" He ran to his friend, who had now hit the ground. Tears were running down Eaglebone's face, and he wept over the body of his fallen friend. He sat there, thinking about all of the things that he never said to Pilgrim Boy, and now he had lost the chance forever, "P-Pilgrim Boy… I… I love you!"

"Wha…. What did you say?" Pilgrim Boy's weak voice asked. He opened his eyes to see the weeping face of his best friend over him.

* * *

**This has been chapter one. Let me know what you think. **


End file.
